Throngs of Kings supporters flooded the city council chambers Tuesday evening, supporting a downtown arena and to keep the Kings in the city.  Councilman Allen Warren reported there are 25 locals who have pleged $1 million each to keep the team. At one point, a member of Crown Downtown presented the group's white T-shirt to the newest councilmen – Allen Warren and Steve Hansen – and even included a onesie for Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby's expected baby.  Mike Barnbaum, of Think Big Sacramento and Crown Downtown, said entertainment options need to be kept in Sacramento, that are not only accessible to people in cars. He went on to say that Seattle wants this prize in their city, and "my th

Mayor Kevin Johnson's press conference and update on the King's situation is now over. Listen to the audio and read our live coverage as it happened below.

A beautiful sunrise showed itsself over the Capitol building this morning. As the sun began rising, the clouds were a standout effect over the building.

Oscar Shorts Even for most dedicated film goers, the shorts categories at the Academy Awards are often some of the most obscure, with short films that have primarily been seen in various Academy sanctioned film festivals (with one or two exceptions, typically among big name animated films that sometimes play in support of a mainstream feature film). However, despite their relative obscurity, the shorts are subject to some of the fairest final voting in the entire competition. (And I make that distinction between final voting and nominations, because there are always wonderful short films out there that weren’t seen in regular theaters and which might have won in festival competitions, b

Pension board meetings are usually dull events. But not on January 9, the day the teacher’s pension system told gun manufacturers to take a hike. The California State Teachers Retirement System – CalSTRS (“cal-stirs”) as it’s know by policy and financial geeks – took official action concerning guns by publically announcing its intention to dump gun manufacturers from its portfolio. This action came less than a month after the staff realized CalSTRS had invested in the company that made the gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary. CalSTRS, investments and a three-headed dog Pension funds invest in thousands of companies. They have to as part of their investment strategy –invest across the boar

Rosa Parks famous act of defiance — refusing to give up her seat in the “Heart of Dixie” December 1, 1955 led to her quiet arrest and minimal fine that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott.  The golden legacy of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, in the ongoing war towards equity and equal opportunity, remains the standard of a lifetime of community service and demonstrated faith in action. The national symbol, "Ole Blue" our Sacramento Regional Transit bus is on display at the California State Capitol in honor of Rosa Parks Centennial Celebration, National Freedom Day, February 1, 2013. Many choose to believe that Rosa Parks decision was simply a "one time" quiet act of rebellion by an old lady

Last night, the County Board of Supervisors approved the Cordova Hills project to create a new suburb in the eastern end of the County. I watched some of the session on the project on television and was struck by a couple significant misrepresentations being oft quoted by the opposition which were fortunately corrected during the session. One was that approving the project would threaten federal transportation funds, which was corrected by a former federal transportation official who found nothing in the project warranting such a claim. Another was that the project should not be approved because it was so far away from everything else, which was corrected by the board chair reminding pe

After hearing the arguments of 18 impassioned medical marijuana advocates and a few foes, a decision on whether to toughen the zoning restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries was pushed back Tuesday night by the City Council. The council was poised to pass an ordinance amendment which would have increased the distance dispensaries are required to be from schools from 600 to 1,000 feet, but the item was pushed back three weeks after some council members spoke against the proposal and directed staff to do further research. "My concern is we've created an outright ban," said District 3 Councilman Steve Cohn. "What we're talking about here is medical marijuana, not recreational marijua

Did you remember to make your 2013 resolution to read more? It’s not too late, even as January comes to a close. If you did make your list, I have to ask if you added books that aren’t just on the bestseller lists or shelves. And, I really must ask if you included some Sacramento area authors on your list. Like I said, there’s still time. Did I hear you say that you need some help adding books that aren’t on those top ten or twenty or one hundred lists? You’re in the right place, then. There is certainly nothing wrong with those lists, but there are some mighty fine books in the world that you probably won’t find on those lists or in the big stores. You might find them online, but how wil

The city council is expected to tackle a slew of hot items Tuesday night, including a marijuana dispensary ordinance, the mid-year budget adjustments and a report on city employees' credit card purchases.  The mid-year budget report – which makes recommendations on which city departments' budgets should be cut or bolstered – does not include any more money for the police department, much to the ire of some Midtowners.  Midtown resident George Raya said money from Measure U should be used now to help the police department, given the crime in the neighborhood. “We passed Measure U to restore cuts made to law enforcement, to fire, parks and rec,” he said. “So why are we going to wait until

Meet with our new District 2 Councilman Allen Wayne Warren To discuss, plan and implement the Marysville and Grand Improvement Project Wednesday, January 30, 2013 6:00pm Kinney Police Facility – Community Room 3550 Marysville Blvd., Sacramento CA We will address how to make the gateway to our neighborhood safer for ourselves, our children and our businesses. The longstanding prevalence of loitering/public intoxication, drug dealing, violence etc. at Marysville and Grand has gone on for years.  Many residents refuse to shop, or even walk through, the area.  The bus stops are hangouts for transients, who really don’t need to be out there drinking and doing drugs. There are numerous

More January-esque Film Openings The January pattern of film openings I was discussing last week continues this week with an award season drama, a straightforward action film that feels at home at this time of year, and a flashier popcorn actioner that feels like a refugee from the summer. There’s also the opening of “Movie 43” which wasn’t made available for press review – and you can draw your own conclusions on that.   “Sister” and “Parker” Interestingly, while very different, two of the new films share a Robin Hood-like sentiment towards stealing. In “Sister,” Switzerland’s official entry in the foreign language category for the Academy Awards, a young boy lives in the town at the

Sacramento, California ~ National Freedom Day is a United States observance of the February 1, 1865 signing by President Abraham Lincoln a joint House and Senate resolution that later became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constution.  Major Richard Robert Wright, Sr., born an enslaved American, believed that there should be a day when freedom for all Americans should be celebrated.  He invited local and national leaders to meet to organize a movement for a national holiday to commemorate Lincoln's signing of the 13th Amendment. The National Freedom Association proposed a memorial date to call attention to the continuing struggle for freedom for African-Americans.  President Truman signed

The next corrupt politician or city employee hoping to go on a credit card spending spree or take kickbacks may be in for a surprise: Sacramento is set to have a toll-free, anonymous whistleblower hotline within the next two months. The line would be staffed by a live person, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, and would cost about $200,000 to fund. The purpose of the hotline, according to the staff report, would be to serve as a deterrent and as an avenue for city employees and the public to report potential waste and abuse without retaliation.  City Auditor Jorge Oseguera presented a report on the whistleblower hotline program at Tuesday's city council meeting, which

While this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration was a wonderful event, I am making a video commentary on MLK and some of the possible shortcomings in our approach to advancing social justice.

From PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:        "Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, a dream we can still see vividly when we revisit the most famous of his many timeless speeches. His vision of a world free of hatred and injustice has changed the face of American society and continues to inspire people around the world. What gave Dr. King’s dream such force was his steadfast commitment to confront his enemies without violence and to love those who hated him, knowing that hatred only begets hatred, and violence always fans the flames of injustice. On this 84th anniversary of his birth, let us reflect on his words and vision, and consider what each of us can do toda

The 15th State of Downtown Breakfast took place last Tuesday morning at the Sacramento Convention Center, with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom as keynote speaker. Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, opened the event and ran through a plethora of topics and issues. Public safety, K Street, the sale of Downtown Plaza and parks are just a few of the many that were highlighted. “Personal connection makes a difference,” Ault said, regarding the 26 new businesses that opened up in the district last year. Ault cited the executive committee’s efforts to get to know brokers, owners and storefronts as the difference. He was optimistic about the strides that have been

New film releases – the good-bad and the ugly January can be an odd time at the movies, with some of the most varied releases showing up. On the one hand you have the serious award contenders slowly rolling out across the country, having had Christmas releases in Los Angeles and New York City in order to qualify for various competition deadlines. While on the other hand you tend to see the flotsam and jetsam of projects with low expectations and those that haven’t lived up to studio hopes for release at busier times of the year. Looking at two of this week’s new releases shows us more about the latter categories than the former. Broken City Directed by Allen Hughes On paper, a film abo

On Saturday, Jan. 12, writer and illustrator Sam Kieth signed comic books, graphic novels, trading cards and answered many special requests for drawings. His ink never ran dry as the line of fans grew to roughly one hundred by quarter past 3 pm. Fans waited for over an hour to get in and meet him. For many, he is the reason they read comics. Kris Moore flew from Dallas to attend this signing and told Kieth, “you are the reason I read comic books!” Moore called him “the greatest artist of the past thirty years.” Another fan, Steven Bello, drove from Los Angeles with his friend who said that he “hasn’t seen [Bello] that excited since his wedding.” Chris McCarthy cancelled his business pl

Just as Sacramento is facing an increase in gun crime city wide, and a rash of muggings on the grid (including one Friday in which a woman was shot), the City Council is tasked with the decision of where to funnel funds resulting from the passage of the Measure U sales tax. What no one disputes is that the Sacramento Police Department has endured serious cuts, the question in front of the council now is how the department should be restored. On Tuesday night the council members will vote on city staff recommendations regarding the usage of Measure U funds, and those recommendations will then be finalized with more detail in the city’s budget, which will go before the council on Jan. 29.